Day 1: " I'm on a boat!"~1. Why are scientists particularly interested in this specific site? Why is it special? Scientists are interested in this site because it shows the good work that many different scientists can do if they work together to achieve something, or in this case, to find out how the climate change affects the ocean.

2. What is the name of the research vessel that they are on? The research vessel that they are on is called the Melville.

3. Which educational institution is the vessel a part of? The Melville is the longest ship in the Scripps Oceanographic fleet.

4. How much does the ship weigh when it is fully loaded?When the ship is fully loaded, it weighs 3,026,000 lbs, or 2,516 tons! If we could compare this weight to other animals, we'd need 560 elephants and 12 blue whales to weigh as much as the ship.

Day 3: Releasing the MOCNESS~

5. On day 3, read about zooplankton are captured by the MOCNESS, summarize the process below:MOCNESS stands for Multiple Opening and Closed Net and Environmental Sensing System. It is a piece of equipment used to capture many plankton by using its many nets. It will be lowered at 1500 feet into the Pacific Ocean to find and capture plankton so that scientists can look at how many, what types and what kinds of plankton species are at a sea depth of 0 ft to 1500 ft. 6: What are phytoplankton?Phytoplankton are a type of plankton that drifts; it makes up the foundation of the marine food web. To survive, it relies on photosynthesis to make its own food. This group consists of single-celled algae, diatoms and bacteria.

Day Six: "Sea Soaring Away...."~

7. What information is collected by the SeaSoar? What are they trying to find, specifically?The SeaSoar is a sea "instrument" that looks like a plane. It is deployed behind the ship and towed towards the water, according to Ms. Lebental's blog info. The SeaSoar identifies the exact location of where the California Current meets more denser coastal water. It goes down into the water column to collect data and sends it back to a computer in a lab from the Melville.

8. What does CTD stand for?CTD stands for Conductivity, Temperature and Depth. The CTD contains "bottles" that collect water samples at different depths.

Day Ten: "Ahoy E-Front"~

9. What is the "E-Front"?The E-Front is short for the "Eddy Front", which is where the California Current meets up with the inshore currents.

10. Why does the sampling need to be conducted at night?The sampling had to be done at night because they wanted to be sure that the zooplankton was present at the depth where they would collect the samples. 11. What is the epipelagic zone?At every hour, the team would deploy a Bongo Net into the water at 300 ft and wait for thirty seconds then bring the net back up. The water would flow through the net, leaving it full of zooplankton. This is called the epipelagic zone.

12. Explain how the chlorophyll samples are preserved. The way the "O Team" preserved the chlorophyll samples is quite simple, actually. They poured different water samples into different bottles and then filtered them using different size filter papers. After doing that, they collected the paper and preserved it by using acetone and freezing it.

Day Twelve, "Team Oozkeki"~13. Where is the mesopelagic zone? Why are the critters found here so special?The mesopelagic zone is where all types of fish live deep in the water. The critters found there are special because they are not the kinds of animals that you see in an aquarium. They had to adapt, to make best, with their deep sea water, and if they are brought up to life, they they will die, because they have already adapted to their original habitat.

Day Fourteen: "Shrunken Cups"~

14. Explain why styrofoam cups that were attached to the CTD shrunk when they were lowered to the depths.According to Boyle's Law, if you increase pressure to an object, (in this case, styrofoam cups) the volume of the object will decrease. Since the pressure underwater is greater than the pressure on land, the cups shrunk.

Day Nineteen: "Trace Metal Group"~

15. Why is iron so important to phytoplankton?Iron is important and vital to phytoplankton because they use it as a nutrient.

16. What kind of precautions are taken by the scientists on board to make sure that the water samples are not contaminated by metals on or around the ship?Special equipment that is covered in plastic is used to help protect contamination.

Day Twenty-One: "Twinkle Little Scat"~

17. How can scientists use "poop" to determine the biomass of an ecosystem? Explain.To determine the biomass of an ecosystem, scientists look at the amount of carbon found in poop. And by doing that, they can also find out the amount of matter flowing through the ecosystem.

18. What is "marine snow"? Explain how it is collected.Marine snow is basically what scientists call all the scat and phytoplankton that fall through the water column.

Day Twenty-Four, "Marine Birds"~

19. Explain how long-lining is dangerous to marine birds.Long-lining threatens the existence of albatrosses because when the birds see a fish on the line, they'll eat it and become stuck with the bait, causing them to drown.20. Describe Fin Whales - what do they look like, what do they eat, why are they not hunted as much as other whales?You can identify fin whales by their unique coloration and the position of their dorsal fin. They eat plankton. Something like krill. They are not hunted as much like other whales because they are found so far off shore.

Day Twenty-Six, "Copepods"~

21. What are copepods? What are they related to?Copepods are plankton that are found in the Pacific Ocean. They are related to crabs and lobsters.

22. Explain the two ways that copepods are studied on this ship.Two scientists, Kat and Alexis, focus on researching copepods by two different ways. Kat looks at copepod reproduction. She uses Bongo Nets to capture female copepods. She looks to see if any of the copepod females lay eggs and if they do, she separates them to see how many copepod eggs will hatch. Alexis, on the other hand, looks at pictures of marine snow to copepods. He studies them and tells the other members on the ship how many copepods can be found in the sea.

Day Twenty-Nine: "Last Day..."~

23. What is the bow dome? Where is it located?The bow dome is a place where you can watch the marine animals in their habitats. It is located at the bottom of the front of the boat. To get there, you have to walk down a steep set of stairs. And at the bottom, you'll see pairs of circular window. But of course, many bow domes are different depending on the type of ship.

24. Would you be interested in spending a month at sea? Does a career in oceanography seem interesting?To be honest, yes I would be interested in spending a month in the sea. Imagine me.... a mermaid under water :) It would be interesting working as an oceanographic worker. Learning more about the ocean, being in water, seeing fish, it all sounds fun and something I would really enjoy. 25. Which part of this blog was most interesting to you? Why?I actually liked Kat's work. It was pretty cool, to be looking at copepod eggs and such. I thought that the work done by this amazing crew was pretty interesting, because you get to see a couple of grown adults working together to research and gather information about the sea animals. If only a coupla teenagers could do this type of work.. Called the "Teenagers at Sea Challenge". This would be quite interesting too! We could learn that all the oceanography work is not all fun and games. You have to think and cooperate with others to get things done.

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